Volleyball

Santa Clara Drills Idaho for Best Start in School History

Salt Lake City, Utah - The 17th-ranked Santa Clara women's volleyball team set a new school record for consecutive victories to begin a season tonight after soundly defeating Idaho 3-0 tonight in the first match of the Hampton Inn Utah Classic, hosted by the University of Utah. Game scores were 30-21, 30-19, and 30-21. Despite the 7-0 start to 2005, head coach Jon Wallace will not allow his team to rest on their laurels.

"It's something as a coach, I could care less about," said Wallace about his team's quick start. "The fact that we win is what I care about. I think that we are starting off so strongly is a serious indication of how dedicated the group is this season."

The match began heavily in Santa Clara's favor, as they bolted out to a 4-1 lead. The Vandals were able to close the gap to 8-7 on a kill by Kati Tikker, but that would be the closest that they would get, as the Broncos proved to be too strong for them to handle. Kills by several different SCU players, along with several attacking errors by Idaho, allowed Santa Clara to pull ahead to an 18-10 margin. Freshman Brittany Lowe thundered home a kill to give Santa Clara the 30-21 first game victory.

The Broncos continued to dominate the match in the second frame, as they rushed out to a 5-0 lead. Santa Clara would end up cruising the rest of the game, as Idaho continued to plague itself with multiple hitting errors. An attack error by Tikker ended the game in SCU's favor, 30-19.

After intermission, the Vandals pushed the Broncos to open up the third game. Kristen Luxton's service error tied the match at 4-all, but after that, it was all Santa Clara. SCU pulled out to an 11-6 lead, thanks to a string of Idaho errors. The lead ballooned to 20-10 after the Broncos continued to apply the defensive pressure, rattling the Vandals into making several more hitting errors. The match ended after Idaho made another hitting error.

Junior outside hitter Kim McGiven lead her team with 11 kills on the night, while sophomore middle blocker Anna Cmaylo spearheaded the defensive effort with 8 blocks. Wallace also points to a trio of passers as a stable and calming force for his team.

"I thought our passing was good. Brittany, Caroline, and Cassie were rocks for us in the back tonight," said Wallace.

"Brittany played well and she hit for a high percentage," added Wallace. "She had a good outing."

The Broncos returns to action tomorrow night when they takes on host Utah at 6 p.m. to finish off the Hampton Inn Utah Classic.